A highly acclaimed writer and editor, Bill Buford left his job at The New Yorker for a most unlikely destination: the kitchen at Babbo, the revolutionary Italian restaurant created and ruled by superstar chef Mario Batali. Finally realizing a long-held desire to learn first-hand the experience of restaurant cooking, Buford soon finds himself drowning... more...

They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England's soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities.... more...

Ten years after the success of the 1983 Best of Young British Novelists issue, four judges -- A.S. Byatt, Salman Rushdie, bookseller John Mitchinson and Granta editor Bill Buford -- set out to identify twenty more young and promising writers. The list introduced astonishing emerging talents: Alan Hollinghurst, Will Self, Hanif Kureishi, A.L. Kennedy... more...

Martin Amis, Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes were relatively unknown names in literature when Granta published its first Best of Young British Novelists list in 1983. They did not remain unknown for long. These writers -- along with Pat Barker, Rose Tremain, A.N. Wilson and Adam Mars-Jones -- became the most celebrated... more...

A selection from the beloved bestseller Among the Thugs , “Waiting for a Goal” pinpoints the actual soccer amid the rampant hooliganism. They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin’ Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs, and themselves. Their dislikes encompass the rest of the known universe, and... more...